Councils spending £50million a year paying salaries of suspended workers

Investigation finds staff suspended for fraud, theft, drugs, assault, sexual, harassment and mistreating kids... but they're still banking full pay despite not working

By Patrick Knox

26th December 2017, 9:35 am

Updated: 27th December 2017, 7:10 pm

NEARLY 10,000 council staff have been suspended on full pay during the past five years over allegations including sexual harassment and fraud, it has been reported.

About 2,000 local authority employees have been suspended while still receiving their full salary each year since 2012.

Alamy

Birmingham City Council has seen the hundreds of workers suspended

Freedom of Information requests were sent to the UK's 418 city, borough and district councils, 117 of which provided details on suspensions, reports The Times.

The paper reports among them were 402 cases of fraud and theft, 242 of inappropriate behaviour, 123 of harassment and 127 of mistreatment of children.

Some 167 were for alcohol or drug offences and 81 were for assault.

According to the figures, Birmingham City Council - the UK's largest local authority - saw the highest number of disciplinary suspensions at 330 over the five years, followed by Glasgow at 283.

The investigation highlights one case, in which a Birmingham City Council worker was said to have been found to have committed "inappropriate conduct and sexual harassment", but received only a formal written warning.

Further details of this suspension were not disclosed by the paper.

Getty - Contributor

Some of those with their feet up at home on full pay are accused of harassment

The Times also claims a Derbyshire County Council employee has been on paid leave for more than three years after being suspended for safeguarding reasons in August 2014, while a social services worker for Monmouthshire County Council on a £42,000 salary was suspended for 678 days for "management irregularities" and then dismissed.

Bob Blackman, a member of the communities and local government committee and Conservative MP for Harrow East, told the Times: "You often see sweetheart deals where someone leaves a local authority with a payoff, and often that's not published.

"And then they move off to another local authority or public body and they are once again richly rewarded for their work.

"Any payoffs or any arrangements made should be open to full public scrutiny. It shouldn't be hushed up."

MOST READ IN NEWS

'I've paid a high price'

Tesco romp teen says office sex 'was just a moment of madness'

Dating the Devil

Jon Venables was living with secret girlfriend who KNEW about sick past

BUTLER'S TEARS

More crack, Vicar?

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for communities and local government, said the problem needed to be "rooted out" as council staff are employed with taxpayers' money.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said staffing matters and suspensions were the responsibility of local authorities, adding: "We expect councils to take reports of misconduct extremely seriously and have the appropriate measures in place to handle such issues appropriately and swiftly."

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.